What is the big deal with finisher medals?

for every time I ran over 5k or over 10k, we would be out of material to make medals. Running 5k, or 10k or completing a marked course is not an accomplishment. I mark out my daily runs, but you don't see me buying myself a medal for the "1/6/2011 5 mile morning run!" (which I subsequently took first and last place in...)

Getting out of bed and "running" jogging or walking a 5k or even 10k is NOT an accomplishment unless you are paralyzed or are extremely old and you get a medal for being the oldest MFer on the course or for running the race 40 years in a row!

If a medal was a huge deal to these people I say let them be pissed, keep giving the money to charity. You are better off without egotiscal people... they aren't even runners or joggers.

If you COMPLETED a Marathon, you can have your medal or at least my respect. I am a middle distance guy!

If I had a medal wrote:

If you COMPLETED a Marathon, you can have your medal or at least my respect. I am a middle distance guy!

Define "completed." Can I have my medal if I crossed the start and the finish, as long as no one on the subway noticed the race number on my shorts covered by my sweatshirt?

I WANT TO EAT MY MEDAL! NOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM

completed as in ran the whole thing and finished in under 4 hours

I can't think of any of the 700 or so races I've done that I'd want -- or deserve -- a medal for just finishing.

A year ago I got a finishers medal at a 5K in Las Vegas. I was confused when they handed it to me.

Best finishers prize i got for running a marathon was a dethorned red rose.

I think they gave out Pansies for the post 4 hour crowd.

I have finished two half-marathons and literally threw the finisher medal away from me right as I was presented with it. What the hell is the point of a finisher medal? People get their PICTURES taken with them? Just for FINISHING?

I have kept two of my marathon finisher medals, but for different reasons. One was because I qualified for Boston. So I considered it a "Boston qualifier" medal. The other one was from Boston, because I had to qualify. In no way am I celebrating just finishing.

It's a different mindset than real runners have. I have a colleague who had a relative "finish" a amarthon- like almost 5 hours, lot's of walking.

She was so impressed. She said that she didn't care if it was slow and she walked. Most people can't walk that far and it's still tough to do.

I just kept my mouth shut.

I think- RW and RT should get THOSE people to see the value of the REAL marathoners and make them household names with that fan base.

I think its a sense of accomplishment that people want. Something tangible to hang on their wall or whatever. I personally enjoy the medal regardless if it is a 5k, 10k, Half Marathon or Full Marathon.

I once ran in a 5k that passed out coffee mugs at the finish. Nice touch, its still in my cupboard today after 18 years.

mwil wrote:

I think its a sense of accomplishment that people want. Something tangible to hang on their wall or whatever. I personally enjoy the medal regardless if it is a 5k, 10k, Half Marathon or Full Marathon.

They take up so much room. I think the right thing is to give them back when presented with them at the time of the race. Chuck em onto the RDs table.

participation ribbon wrote:

I don't understand the (seemingly recent) obsession with finishers medals. It used to be the major marathons gave them out. Now it seems like every race, no matter the length, has one. I helped put on a 10k/5k turkey trot, and we got angry e-mails after the race because we didn't have them. Are "new" runners really that concerned with these cheap trinkets?

Charge an extra $5 and give them a $1 medal.

Racing used to call forth competitive effort, but now it is merely an entertainment event for most.

It is difficult to imagine that people would want finishers' medals, but apparently they do. Running has changed.

tired of medal clutter wrote:

mwil wrote:

I think its a sense of accomplishment that people want. Something tangible to hang on their wall or whatever. I personally enjoy the medal regardless if it is a 5k, 10k, Half Marathon or Full Marathon.

They take up so much room. I think the right thing is to give them back when presented with them at the time of the race. Chuck em onto the RDs table.

I look around for parents with little kiddies and give the medals to them.

"It pisses me off when I leave with some stupid medal for running 15:30 and winning by two minutes when some jerk who probably walked half the race goes home with a TV (true story)."

I bet you were still bitching a month later on your long runs with buddies. That tv should have been MINE! I ran a 15:30 for Christ's sake. 15:30!

Finisher's medals, my friend, STILL kick all forms of ass.

participation ribbon wrote:I have a feeling we're going to see local races like mine go the way of the dinosaur. People are looking for the "event experience" like one would get at a Rock'n'Roll-type event.

I've noticed the reverse in my area. There's actually a bit of a backlash currently going on, with several low-key, no frills race series making some inroads on the established players. No shirt, no chip (the first time I did one I smiled at the memories of older races, caused by having to maintain my place in the chute until someone ripped the identifying number off the corner of my bib).

The people who run these events aren't necessarily faster runners than a comparable chip-timed, medal-for-everyone, 5 year, 3-deep AG award $40 5k, but I notice they are all 'regulars', i.e. people who have entered enough races to already have a pile of useless medals and shirts. The novelty wears off, even for a 30 minute fatty.

I'd rather have some useful momentos like the mug mentioned above, a flashing arm band for night runs, a cheap pair of gloves... I'll use all those.

I'd rather have the medal than a t shirt though. I keep 1/10 shirts and donate the rest because they are usually ugly and/or cheap.

Think about it wrote:I have finished two half-marathons and literally threw the finisher medal away from me right as I was presented with it. What the hell is the point of a finisher medal? People get their PICTURES taken with them? Just for FINISHING?

I have kept two of my marathon finisher medals, but for different reasons. One was because I qualified for Boston. So I considered it a "Boston qualifier" medal. The other one was from Boston, because I had to qualify. In no way am I celebrating just finishing.

This is a funny post. Not because you think finisher's medals are useless (they are), but that your caveat is that if the medal is from a marathon in which you qualified for Boston... well, that's something important and a very worthy reason to covet your medal! Suddenly it is not so silly to be proud. Why? Only one reason: it was tough. For YOU.

I remember when I first qualified for Boston. It was an afterthought. I didn't care about that medal any more than another one. Is a 3:10 marathon special in any way? Not to me.

But I don't make the same mistake and put my personal abilities as the benchmark for whether a medal should be important to someone else. If some fatty runs 4 hours, gets a finishers medal and is proud of it, so be it. Some people are not born to run at ALL. I've often thought they deserve a bit of respect for even showing up and doing something in a public arena that they suck so terribly at.